"If you're an Elvis fan, no explanation is necessary; If
you're not an Elvis fan, no explanation is possible."

(George Klein)

Quote:

"History
has him as this good old country boy, Elvis is about as country
as Bono!"

(Jerry
Schilling)

"How
Great Thou Art"

This
hymn is a wonderful proclamation of the awesomeness of God.
There are many scriptures which deal with this, but here is
one of the most succinct "Great is the Lord and most worthy
of praise; his greatness no-one can fathom." Psalm 145:3.

The
original text of this great hymn was a poem entitled 'O Store
Gud' ('Oh Mighty God'), written in 1886, by Swedish pastor,
the Reverend Carl Boberg. It is believed that his inspiration
for the text came from a visit to a beautiful country estate
on the south coast of Sweden. He was suddenly caught in a
midday thunderstorm with awe-inspiring moments of flashing
violence, followed by a clear brilliant sun. Soon afterwards
he heard the calm sweet songs of the birds in the nearby trees.
This experience prompted the pastor to fall to his knees in
humble adoration of his mighty God. He then returned home
and penned the poem.

From
studying the videos of Elvis singing this song, it is clear
that he also felt the same adoration of this awesome God.
Elvis is not just singing, he is worshipping. During a June
1997 concert, a few weeks before he died, he actually personalised
the song by singing "my God how great I think you are". The
original poem was sung to an old Swedish melody, translated
in to several languages, and eventually in 1948, the English
version, which we know now, was created. Reverend Stuart K
Hine, a native of London, England translated it from Russian,
changing 'Oh Mighty God' to 'How Great Thou Art'.

The
natural melody and harmonies of the chorus strongly resemble
some of the musical phrases in the popular gospel hymn 'Pass
me not O Gentle Saviour', and are reminiscent of the Hawaiian
national song 'Aloha O'. Elvis loved being in Hawaii and one
wonders if his love for the song was also influenced by the
melody.

In
the fifties 'How great thou Art' was sung as a solo by George
Beverley Shea, one of the singers associated with the Billy
Graham evangelistic team. I can't help but imagine that if
Elvis had fully responded to the calling of God on his life,
he would have been alive now, travelling around the world
singing with evangelistic crusades. (At the time of writing
this, Kenneth Copeland, who can be described as a travelling,
singing evangelist is in his sixties, fit and well, travelling
the world.

In
fact I was at a meeting in which Kenneth Copeland interrupted
his preaching to talk about Elvis he said "In the last few
years of his life, Elvis' calling (to be a preacher) was driving
him crazy. That's why he was always singing Gospel songs,
before concerts, during concerts and all night after concerts".

Lyrics

Oh
Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,

Consider
all the worlds Thy hands have made.

I
see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy
power throughout the universe displayed

Chorus

When
Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

To
take me home, what joy shall fill my heart

Then
I shall bow in humble adoration And there proclaim my
God how great Thou art Chorus

Chorus

Then
sings my soul my saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art

How
great Thou art

Then
sings my soul my saviour God to Thee

How
great Thou art

How
great Thou art

How
great Thou art how great Thou art

These
verses are also part of the hymn, but were not sung
by Elvis:

When
though the woods and forest glades I wander,

And
hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,

When
I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,

And
hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

Chorus

And
when I think, that God, his son not sparing,

Sent
Him to die, I scarce can take it in -

That
on the cross my burden gladly bearing,

He
bled and died to take away my sin

Chorus

Madeleine
Wilson, part of a presentation at the Inaugural Elvis Presley
Convention held in Canberra, Australia on Sunday, 28 November
2004